DictionaryAI

ugly

UG-lee/ˈʌɡli/

Adjectiveuglier, ugliest

Noun pluraluglies

9 meanings of ugly

Practice

  1. 1
    hideousadjective
    Unpleasant or unattractive to look at, or less often unpleasant to hear or to perceive with another sense.

    Critics called the new tower one of the ugliest buildings in the city.

    He painted the fence an ugly shade of green that clashed with everything.

    UsageUsually compared as uglier, ugliest. Said of a person, it is blunt; plain or unattractive are gentler.

    Similarunattractive, hideous, unsightly, grotesque, repulsive

    Oppositebeautiful, attractive, pretty, handsome

    Note

    In Shakespeare's Richard the Third, "ugly sights" sit beside "ghastly dreams," and Spenser's "ugly view" of crimes is nearer to horrifying than to unattractive.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Shakespeare's Richard the Third places “ugly sights” beside “ghastly dreams”; Clarence speaks the line in Act I, scene IV. oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com
    • Spenser uses “ugly view” of crimes in The Faerie Queene, Book I, Canto IX, stanza 48; the surrounding description supports the interpretation of horror. gutenberg.org
  2. 2
    grim (situation)adjectivefiguratively
    Unpleasant and likely to cause trouble, danger, or loss.

    The situation took an ugly turn when the talks collapsed.

    The crowd grew angry, and things started to turn ugly.

    UsageOften turn ugly or get ugly, as in things turned ugly; also take an ugly turn.

    Similarnasty, dangerous, threatening, menacing, ominous

    Note

    Trouble on the way is the core of this figurative use. An ugly rumor can do damage, an ugly wound may turn bad, and an ugly customer is someone best avoided. The set phrase things get ugly predicts conflict rather than describing appearance. Calling someone an ugly customer is a warning, not a description of their face.

  3. 3
    morally shockingadjective
    Offensive to a person's moral sense or feelings.

    The novel exposes the ugly prejudices of its era.

    There was something deeply ugly about the way they mocked her.

    Similarnasty, vile, repugnant, offensive, hateful

  4. 4
    homely onenounslangcountable or uncountable
    A person or thing regarded as unattractive.

    In the cartoon, a band of grumpy little uglies lives under the bridge.

    The hero spends the whole movie fighting off one space ugly after another.

    UsageThe plural is uglies. Calling a person an ugly is insulting.

    Similareyesore

    Oppositebeauty, looker, stunner

  5. 5
    lack of beautynounslanguncountable
    The quality or state of being unattractive.

    Behind the glamour lay plenty of ugly nobody talked about.

    The documentary refused to look away from the ugly.

    UsageOften the ugly or a lot of ugly. In formal writing, ugliness is usual.

    Similarunpleasantness, nastiness

    Oppositebeauty

    Note

    Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (2009) puts it in a lyric in which the singer asks for a lover's ugly along with their sickness, so the word stands for everything flawed about a person.

  6. 6
    aggressiveadjective
    Bad-tempered, difficult, and ready to quarrel.

    The old bull had an ugly temper and charged at anyone nearby.

    A few drinks made him loud and ugly.

    UsageOften get ugly with someone or turn ugly; also an ugly temper.

    Similarnasty, mean, surly, belligerent, aggressive

    Oppositeplacid, amiable

    Note

    A use that moves the word from the face to the mood. To feel ugly here means to feel cross and ready for a fight, not to feel unattractive. An ugly temper belongs to someone quick to quarrel. Listeners may think of looks first, so the context needs to make clear that temper is meant.

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    make unattractiveverbnonstandardtransitive
    To make something ugly or unattractive.

    Please don't ugly up the front yard with all that junk.

    Those giant billboards really ugly up the drive into town.

    UsageUsually ugly up: don't ugly up the yard. Forms: uglies, uglying, uglied.

    Similardisfigure, mar, spoil, deface, blight

    Oppositebeautify, enhance

    Note

    It often takes up, as in Jonathan Crocker's A Dream of Hope and Sorrow: "uglying her up a little." There the particle adds a casual, menacing edge.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  2. 8
    noundatedUKcountable or uncountable
    A face shade projecting from the front of a bonnet, used to shield the eyes from sunlight.

    Similarshade, visor

    Note

    Charles Kingsley's Two Years Ago (1857) lists "blue uglies" alongside camp-stools, red petticoats and "parasols of every hue." The list shows the shade was counted like any other accessory and came in colors. The name was informal, a joking label for a practical piece of dress.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Charles Kingsley wrote Two Years Ago, first published in 1857. archive.org
    • The novel's narrator lists blue uglies with camp-stools, red petticoats and parasols of every hue. gutenberg.org
    • The list treats uglies as countable accessories and identifies them as colored. gutenberg.org
  3. 9
    nouncolloquial
    A product whose size or shape keeps it from fitting neatly onto a standard pallet.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of ugly apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Old Norse uggr ("fear, dread"), perhaps connected with agg ("strife, hate"), gave uggligr ("fearful, dreadful, horrible in appearance"), which Middle English borrowed as ugly. The sense "morally offensive" is recorded from about 1300, and by the late 14th century the meaning had grown milder, becoming "very unpleasant to look at."